The Owl

Today when we think of owls we usually think of them as a beautiful
and valuable asset to the natural ecology feeding on undesirable
rodents, insects, frogs, lizards, and birds. We marvel at their silent
flight, incredible eyesight and hearing, and their ability to almost
completely turn their heads around. However, this wasn't always the
case.

Folklore about the owl goes far back into history. To the Greeks the
owl was the favorite creature of Athene, the Goddess of Wisdom. The
Greeks revered the owl and protected them. Owls were encouraged to live
in their temples and it inhabited the Acropolis in great numbers. They
believed that the gods gave the owl a magical inner light which gave
them the ability to see in the dark. To have an owl fly over an army
before battle was sign of impending victory.

The Greek view of owls were in complete contrast to the later Roman
views. To the Romans, the owl was a creature from the underworld and a
portend of impending doom or death. To hear the hoot of an owl meant
that there would soon be a death. Romans also believed that witches
transformed into owls and sucked the blood of babies. Romans attempted
to ward off the evil associated with owls by nailing a dead one to their
front door as a warning to evil forces.

As Roman armies marched North they brought their beliefs with them.
The English adopted much of their owl folklore from their Roman
conquerors. For them, the owl was a sinister creature. It hunted in the
night, a time closely associated with death and evil. Many early
cultures were scared of the night as humans have relatively poor night
eyesight. Any creature that was nocturnal was automatically a creature
associated with evil. They too would hang a dead owl from their barn
doors to ward off evil spirits and believed that if an owl
"hooted" while flying past the window of a sick person it
meant imminent death. In Ireland owls were considered unlucky. If an owl
flew into your home lore dictated that you must kill it immediately. If
it was allowed to leave it would take all of the home's luck with it.
It's interesting to note that in the Northernmost parts of England and Scotland
where the Roman armies did not conquer the local inhabitants it was
considered good luck to see an owl.

The owl entered into our Halloween traditions much like the bat. As a
hunter of bats, owls would often be seen near the Halloween bonfires
searching for food as were the bats. Owls frequently scared nighttime
travelers as they flew silently and often lived in the hollows of trees
where they could not be easily seen. When they screeched it reminded
people of the cackling of a witch. An evil creature that moved
silently, hunted at night, and sounded like a witch it was natural that
they associate the owl with Halloween.